Rotary coin mechanisms are widely used in merchandise-dispensing machines such as bulk venders for dispensing gumballs and other small articles, such as confectioneries, toys, cigarettes etc.
A bulk vender typically dispenses articles stored in a transparent globe or product bin through a dispensing wheel at the base of the bin. The dispensing wheel comprises a plurality of product compartments into which one or more of the stored articles fall. A rotary coin mechanism is provided with a drive gear that meshes with a toothed edge of the dispensing wheel, so that when a user deposits the required coinage into the coin mechanism and turns the handle the drive gear rotates the dispensing wheel. As the dispensing wheel rotates one of the product compartments moves under a shroud or hood which isolates it from the product bin, and a dispensing opening in the floor of the isolated product compartment comes into alignment with the opening to a dispensing chute. The articles contained in the isolated product compartment fall through the dispensing chute and are thereby dispensed to the user. The next time the dispensing wheel is rotated to dispense merchandise, the isolated product compartment rotates out from under the hood and is re-exposed to articles in the product bin, and is thus refilled with articles that randomly drop into the product compartment.
Bulk venders can dispense many different types of merchandise of varying sizes and shapes. Typically the vender is stocked with a specific type of merchandise. Depending upon the value of the merchandise and the coinage required by the vender, in some case a single article is intended to be vended with each rotation of the handle, in which case the size of the product compartments can be adjusted to accept only a single article, while in other cases multiple articles are intended to be vended with each rotation of the handle, and the size of the product compartments is adjusted accordingly. However, many vendable articles are not spherical and do not readily fall into a product compartment as the dispensing wheel rotates; in such cases the vender relies on agitators disposed within the product bin and relatively prolonged exposure to articles in the product bin to ensure that each product compartment is filled to capacity by the time it comes into alignment with the dispensing chute to dispense merchandise to a user.
This presents a problem if the handle of the coin mechanism is turned too quickly by a user. Especially in the case of oddly shaped or oblong articles, such as certain types of confectionaries, cigarettes etc., when the coin mechanism is turned too quickly by the user the product compartments may not be exposed to the product bin for a sufficient time to ensure that each product compartment is filled to capacity by the time it comes into alignment with the dispensing chute. Thus, a user turning the coin mechanism too quickly may obtain their merchandise from the product compartment which next comes into alignment with the dispensing chute, but a subsequent user may find that there is no merchandise dispensed by the vender, or less than the intended number of articles, because a subsequent product compartment has not had an adequate opportunity to fill with articles from the product bin due to the overzealousness of a previous user. This presents an obvious problem for the user who deposits a coin and does not receive adequate merchandise from the vendor, but it also presents a problem for the vender operator who may be called upon unnecessarily to make repairs to a perfectly operable vender, or who may lose the future business of dissatisfied patrons who come to distrust the reliability of bulk venders.
The present invention overcomes this problem by providing a coin mechanism for a bulk vender which provides a braking system which restrains the coin mechanism against free-wheeling rotation and thus ensures a relatively prolonged exposure of each product compartment to the product bin during use of the vender, reducing opportunities for a product compartment to cycle through the product bin without filling to capacity with merchandise.
The invention accomplishes this by providing a brake arm anchored to the frame of the coin mechanism at one end and having a braking ring at the other end which engages a component on the shaft, preferably the hub of the dispensing gear, providing a selected degree of resistance against rotation of the handle and thus preventing the handle from being turned too quickly by a user. The braking ring is adjustable, so that the compression of the braking ring on the dispensing gear hub can be adjusted to suit the size and shape of articles stored in the product bin.
The present invention thus provides a coin mechanism comprising a frame comprising a cover plate having a coin opening, a handle fixed to a shaft extending through the cover plate, a coin conveyor comprising a coin receiving portion, rotationally engaged to the shaft such that the coin receiving portion is in substantial alignment with the coin opening when the coin conveyor is in a rest position, a drive gear rotationally fixed to the shaft, and a brake arm anchored to the frame comprising a braking ring surrounding the shaft and applying a compressive force to the shaft or to a component rotationally fixed to the shaft, whereby the compressive force of the braking ring restrains the shaft against free-wheeling rotation.
The present invention further provides an apparatus for dispensing merchandise having a coin mechanism comprising a frame comprising a cover plate having a coin opening, a handle fixed to a shaft extending through the cover plate, a coin conveyor comprising a coin receiving portion, rotationally engaged to the shaft such that the coin receiving portion is in substantial alignment with the coin opening when the coin conveyor is in a rest position, a drive gear rotationally fixed to the shaft, and a brake arm anchored to the frame comprising a braking ring surrounding the shaft and applying a compressive force to the shaft or to a component rotationally fixed to the shaft, whereby the compressive force of the braking ring restrains the shaft against free-wheeling rotation.
The present invention further provides an apparatus for dispensing merchandise comprising a housing, a product storage bin for storing merchandise mounted above the housing, a dispensing wheel disposed between the product bin and the housing to convey one of a plurality of product compartments into alignment with an opening to a dispensing chute, and a coin mechanism mounted in the lower housing comprising a frame comprising a cover plate having a coin opening, a handle fixed to a shaft extending through the cover plate, a coin conveyor comprising a coin receiving portion, rotationally engaged to the shaft such that the coin receiving portion is in substantial alignment with the coin opening when the coin conveyor is in a rest position, a drive gear rotationally fixed to the shaft for rotating the dispensing wheel, and a brake arm anchored to the frame comprising a braking ring surrounding the shaft and applying a compressive force to the shaft or to a component rotationally fixed to the shaft, whereby the compressive force of the braking ring restrains the shaft against free-wheeling rotation.